Posts tagged “National Council of Certified Activity Professionals”

I’ve been offered a lot of encouragement from the staff at a nursing center and family members to continue to grow our community outreach. The center offers physical therapy and cares for patients who require a brief stay to recover from surgery. The center also offers long-term care for those experiencing memory, mobility or other physical challenges. Dedication and patience has been a key ingredient in working with these folks. We’ve taken a step back since publishing New Tricks in Their Final Stages last year discussing hospice care and have set some time aside to talk about some of the latest happenings with Chess Made Fun.

Family involvement is the cornerstone of what we bring to our community. Working with residents’ families has been an inspiration without the need for setting mental goals and instead letting the process of learning chess unfold on its own. Participation has increased during the last several weeks and is more consistent that ever. Although we are “ginnie pigging” our experimentation with aging communities the time has been well spent and feel we are breaking some new ground here. Our activity director at the center has even gone so far as to say that she would like to see “bingo night” slowly phased out and replaced with games like chess that are more mentally stimulating than games of chance. She is discussing this idea with members of the National Council of Certified Activity Professionals (NCCAP) during their annual convention held in Virginia Beach, VA this year.

Although games like bingo are games of chance, Chess Made Fun stands by its purpose in making any activity fun and familiar and makes prizes or even tournament play an important aspect to keep interest in the games as high as we can. Mini-games like the Pawns Game allow everyone to win almost everyday! Inter-generational play is also made possible through the involvement of local chess clubs throughout Georgia. It so happens that one of our residents is a computer specialist and tutors special needs kids. One of his students is an aspiring chess player and wants to join in the fun working with the elderly at the nursing center.

We will continue to track participation and progress with our chess program and may even publish some relevant metrics should we decide to pursue further research in the area of recreation therapy.

Our Breakthrough

We truly feel the wonderful game of chess can and will benefit families and groups. The game of chess it seems is being unearthed in a new and balanced way to improve social interactions. Chess is being adapted to exploit metacognition (learning to learn) and situational analysis. As a result, family relationships may be strengthened and channels to personal growth developed.

Chess Made Fun is not a popular learning program for our youth, nor is it a "Hair Club for Men" of the past. We do not relegate chess to an allurement or form of entertainment. Our effort and approach to teaching chess through therapeutic means, unshackles the game and reveals chess for what it truly is — a gateway to understanding the natural world.

Visualization becomes a powerful tool to young and old minds where wonder and breakthrough energies abound. Like never before, our special relationship with this remarkable game and the way we deliver it will truly benefit families for years to come. Read On...

culture change

Chess made its resurgence in the United States when Harry Potter became the reigning chess champion — RIP Robert F.

Laura Sherman wrote a first of its kind book titled "Chess Is Child's Play". What she said about it —
"This isn't a children's book. That's why there aren't any colorful illustrations or cartoon characters. It is a book written for parents. It's written for you!" Read On...

Endgame (stylized ENDGAMƎ) is a popular Canadian television drama series from 2011 now exclusively broadcast on Hulu.

Chess is played, but more often displayed as a clever accessory. Chess enthusiasts see "Chess as Art", but realize the distinction in the public eye. Chess is a dirty game with its twists and turns. Unadapted to health and higher learning institutions, chess collects dust in dark spaces where it remains clean and unencumbered. Our sincere hope is to thwart both ideas in popular culture, business circles, even to gamers who clamor to HDTV.